Note: Our show is produced for the ear. We recommend listening if you can! But we also provide a transcript here.
This is the third installment of Homegoings, a special series from Brave Little State that features conversations with musicians of color who live in Vermont. Follow the series here as we release new episodes weekly through June 15.
Check out more Homegoings episodes:
- Homegoings: Bobby Hackney Jr. On Rough Francis' Punk-Rock Inheritance
- Homegoings: Senayit Tomlinson On Art As A 'Way Through'
- Homegoings: DonnCherie On The Art Of Authenticity
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Who is Rivan Calderin?
Rivan Calderin, or Rivan C., is a multi-racial Afro-Cuban-Caucasian hip-hop artist born and raised in Vermont. He's a 20-year-old rising senior at the University of Vermont who writes lyrics that entertain while remaining conscious. Music, he says, is his home, where people can come inside and be welcome.
Stream "Mayday to Pilot" off Rivan Calderin's 2020 EP, igotthejuice:
Lyrics:
"Mayday to Pilot"
It’s the half blind pilot
Violet turning violet
A ticking time bomb with the middle name tyrant
Powerful impact, boom goes the cannon
1000 foot fall but I stick the landing
I’m the black panther, with motives of black panther
Fist up flex, this a Malcolm x stanza
Light skin Danny phantom, this the anthem
Ghosting all you boo thangs no Luigi’s mansion
Floating off my shoe lace,
Kid N’ Play stand up Just copped a new fade, he be hella handsome
Rappin’ like my hoop game, three point and one
Step back, shoot flame,
Banging like a handgun
BOW
Who in here’s gonna start a riot?
And who in hear’s gonna stay quiet
Mayday to pilot, im not gonna crash in the crowd
But I might just clash with the sound.
Like, Fu-- what you mean
Screw what you heard
Sit down and listen and then you can learn
This wisdom I got, bit-- it flows through my veins
Its been in my blood since my people been chained
Shackled and tamed, whipped and re-named, history written on every page cuffed in a cage, fu-- what you say 400 years and nothing done changed
Thats why im, im bringing it back, bringing it back uh,
Thats why im spitting on tracks, and ripping the wax
Thats why im, im bringing it back, bringing it back uh,
Thats why im spitting the facts and swinging my axe
All work and no play makes me a dull boy
If you wanna response from your song, you need the soul boy
If you wanna rebel you need to preach to the quire speak to the masses
Lead and inspire KRS-One totes the gun for protection
By All Means I use my mind as a lethal weapon
WHOOP-WHOOP thats the
Sound Of Da Police
So get out the streets ‘fore you end up deceased
Who in here’s gonna start a riot?
And who in hear’s gonna stay quiet
Mayday to pilot, im not gonna crash in the crowd
But I might just clash with the sound.
Like fu-- all of that
You want me to sing and dance like I’m a sambo
You want me to rap about sipping lean and whipping lambos
You want me to be black and beautiful until it hurts you
But guess what bit--?
I don’t need to fu--ing serve you
I’m the king of my conscious, the leader of my people, the one who won’t rest until we’re treated equal
Don’t need to be anyone else, but who I am I am what I am and thats a brown man
Thats why im, im bringing it back, bringing it back uh,
Thats why im spitting on tracks, and ripping the wax
Thats why im, im bringing it back, bringing it back uh,
Thats why im spitting the facts and swinging my axe
Credits:
Reporting, production & original music: Myra Flynn
Mix & sound design: Myra Flynn & Josh Crane
Digital production: Elodie Reed
Brave Little State executive producer: Angela Evancie
Homegoings is a special series from Brave Little State that features conversations with musicians of color who live in Vermont — about Black grief, resilience and music.
Follow the series here as we release new episodes weekly through June 15.
